The "Make Hip Hop Not War" National Tour will hold events in 15 cities around the country. The tour is designed to galvanize young people on college campuses and in urban communities to call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq . Hip Hop artists, peace activists, Iraq veterans, national leaders and Members of Congress will speak and make appearances at various tour stops.

This tour has emerged as a major moment for the peace movement. The disproportionate impact of war and war spending on communities of color will be a theme of the tour in an attempt to make it a central discussion within the peace movement and among legislators.

"To end this war, we have to bring new energy and new voices to the forefront," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President of the Hip Hop Caucus. "The 'Make Hip Hop Not War' Tour will begin to show the true political power of our Hip Hop communities and of our young people. It is time for young African-American and Latino leaders in this country to establish a stronger, more unified voice in the movement to end the war in Iraq."

The structure of the tour will include rallies, Hip Hop town hall meetings, and community stops at locales such as basketball courts and shopping malls. Each event will sponsor speakers that will educate audiences on the situation in Iraq and anti-war legislation. The tour will connect students and young community organizers with veteran activists, community leaders and representatives from the anti-war struggles of the 20th century and create a new network of young people, primarily from low-income communities and communities of color, to respond to Calls to Action against war and nuclear proliferation.

The tour is being organized by the Hip Hop Caucus, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition.

WASHINGTON, March 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ColorOfChange.org -- an online citizens' lobby of 70,000 members dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans -- launched a national letter writing campaign today calling on the Congressional Black Caucus Institute to reject Fox as partner for their presidential debates.

"Fox News is not a 'fair and balanced' source of information or political debate, and it has repeatedly proven itself hostile to the interests of Black Americans," says a letter online activists can sign on the group's website, http://www.colorofchange.org/. "Fox on-air personalities and regular guests consistently marginalize Black leaders, culture, and institutions."

Last week, the American Prospect quoted the CBC Institute as saying a decision will be made within days about whether Fox or CNN would host the organization's 2008 presidential debates. ColorofChange.org asked Outfoxed director Robert Greenwald to compile an online video detailing Fox's record of attacking Blacks-which debuted today at Brave New Films' website, http://www.foxattacks.com/.

"No network that calls Black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King's funeral to call Black leaders 'racist' should be given a stamp of approval by the CBC Institute," said James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org. "Validating Fox as a legitimate source of news hurts Black America."

Black bloggers and media experts also joined the call for the CBC Institute to freeze out Fox from presidential debates. One of those experts is Benjamin Todd Jealous, former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations (NNPA), a 98-year old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers.

"Fox has a long history of treating Black people unfairly," said Jealous, "They are not a trusted news source for most Black Americans." Chris Rabb, Founder/Chief Evangelist of Afro-Netizen.com -- a top African American political blog -- added, "We urge the CBC Institute to lead with integrity and to not make a deal with the devil."

-- Commenting on Hannity & Colmes about the speakers at Coretta Scott King's funeral, featured guest Mary Matalin said, "I think these civil rights leaders are nothing more than racists" who are keeping "their African-American brothers enslaved." -- Jesse Lee Peterson, a regular guest who is Black said: "Kwanzaa is a racist, pagan, Marxist holiday" and then claimed that the "so-called seven principles of Kwanzaa are socialist, Marxist, separatist ideas... if a white man started a white holiday, seven-day white holiday, black folks would be burning down America." -- Erik Rush, another Black guest, labeled Sen. Obama's church as cultish and separatist for espousing values of black unity and black empowerment (Fox regularly selects Black guests it knows will undermine Black causes). Rush said he replaced the word "black" with "white" in the church's mission statement and "Suddenly, I was looking at this really scary doctrine. You know, it was something that you'd see in more like a cult or an Aryan Brethren church ... I would go beyond saying they're Afrocentric. They're African centric. They refer to themselves as an African people and that somewhat disturbs me from the viewpoint of well, do they consider themselves Americans? Do they consider themselves Christians?" -- On Hannity and Colmes, David Horowitz said: "The only lynch mob in America that is allowed to exist in America is a black lynch mob."

NEW YORK - On Friday, March 23, 2007 at Charis Books & More, New York-based poet, performance artist, author and publisher, DuEwa M. Frazier, comes to Atlanta to present her latest publication, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets & Emcees. The anthology which was recently nominated for the prestigious NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry, is a cross-generational compilation featuring the poetry of fifty women poets and eighteen chapters. Frazier who is the editor of Check the Rhyme Anthology and CEO/Founder of Lit Noire Publishing states, "Check the Rhyme was published to promote the writings of this new generation of women poets, lyricists and spoken word artists, and to inspire our female youth to write."

Already a top seller online and in bookstores, Check the Rhyme Anthology captures the essence of what people in our society today are feeling and thinking about. Whether the topic is hip hop culture, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, relationships, performance art or politics, the book covers many themes as it presents the perspective of women from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Lit Noire Publishing was founded in 2002 by DuEwa M. Frazier, a poet who began performing on the NYC poetry scene in 1999. Since then, Frazier has traveled all over the U.S. sharing her inspirational poetry, as she is also the author and publisher of two favorably reviewed volumes of poetry: Shedding Light From My Journeys and Stardust Tracks on a Road.

Lit Noire Publishing will host the Atlanta poetry and signing event for Check the Rhyme Anthology, in honor of Women's History Month, at Charis Books & More on Friday March 23, 2007 at 8pm. The event will feature DuEwa M. Frazier, Queen Sheba, Letitia D. Ford and Tamara Madison. The poets will perform and discuss on themes within the anthology and will sign copies of Check the Rhyme after the performances. This event is free and open to the public. Charis Books & More is located at 1189 Euclid Avenue Atlanta, GA 30307. For more information contact Charis Books & More at 404-524-0304 or chariscirclemarketing@gmail.com.

(Dateline) - Hip Hop Congress will be holding its 6th annual conference in Athens, OH from July 4th to July 8th. Hip Hop Congress is a 501c3 Non-Profit organization and international grassroots network whose mission is to unite, educate, and empower individuals. We utilize Hip Hop to inspire civic action and cultural creativity within the community. Hip Hop Congress has over 35 chapters throughout the country and works with artists, organizers, promoters and a host of other institutions and organizations. Hip Hop Congress is involved in education, culture, politics, social justice and industry.

This years national conference, co sponsored with our partners Unite Here, SPAN, and H2A, will continue to develop a national service infrastructure for HHC with a variety of other national organizations, student groups, artists and partners. This means working with more students, more artists and more communities. Workshops will include not only intensive sessions on the initial four elements of hip hop but also interactive discussions on Health Care, International Hip Hop, Hip Hop and Education, Women in Hip Hop, Event Planning, the Recording Industry, Youth Violence and much more. In addition, each night there will be showcase featuring independent acts. Performers that have participated in Hip Hop Congress events in previous years are Ghostface, Brother Ali, Zion I, Percee P, Living Legends, Jurassic 5, Tha Jacka, DJ Crucial, Common Market, and All Natural Inc.

We are extending an open invitation to our peers in Hip Hop activism, such as The Zulu Nation, The Temple of Hip Hop, Hip Hop Caucus, Mississippi Artists and Producers Coalition, Hip Hop Action Summit Network, to join us in Athens . We also want to encourage and invite not only artists, organizers and friends of the organization from all over the country but also anyone with a desire to push hip hop, education, and society forward. With such an explosive year on the national and international front, this years conference plans to be a charged event with ripples that will be felt throughout the country.

Registration and officially schedule for this conference will be announced in the coming weeks. If you are interested in participating in workshops, performances, as a sponsor or supporter, please contact PR Chair Aaron Berkowitz at 314-809-2502 or email Berkowitz@hiphopcongress.com .